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Christopher, I am just listening to your uploads of the Grechaninov excerpts from Dobrynya Nikitich.Something is wrong with the Act I introduction: after 45 seconds there is a big silent gap of about 1 min 40 sec.I tried to cut the silence but the bits did not join, so the music must have been going on. I have downloaded the file two times but the same problem occurs. Sorry.

Given that he was writing in the USSR's darkest decades (20s, 30s, 40s and early 50s), it's a wonder that he was able to write such light music.

Some would also see exactly the same scenario as being exactly the reason he wrote such light music

Agreed. With quite a bit of the work from the 30s-50s, and especially works from the Soviet territories outside of Russia, the brisk writing style, emphases on unambiguous folk materials, unabashed virtuosity, etc.. was simply required if one wanted to maintain a music career. Soviet composers simply didn't have the Western luxury of being able to openly react to the mood of the times.

Under the "United States" composers downloads, I post a collection of Karl Miller's tracks of American Pianist Byron Janis's interpretations of Prokofiev's Third Piano concerto and Tchaikovsky's first. Enjoy.

All download links I have posted are for works, that, to my knowledge, have never been commercially released in digital form. Should you find I've been in error, please notify myself or an Administrator. Please IM me if I've made any errors that require attention, as I may not read replies.

I have been spending some time lately sorting through a lot of files I have downloaded over the last couple of years or so; some of them are a bit mysterious now. Either I can't tell where I got them, or sometimes, even what they are.

I have a zip file for the above mentioned symphony, which I thought must come from here, but I can't find the posting of it. I did a little research into the piece itself, the results of which I post here for the benfit of anyone interested. The zip contains five files, but the symphony has only four movements. Files two and three need to be merged. Then you have::

Malcolm Henbury-Ballan (MHBallan on here) has been kind enough to send me his DAT-format cassette on which this Lyrical Intermezzo was recorded, together with a number of other Bortkiewicz works (see below). I have transferred them to MP3 format and put in the Downloads section. According to Malcolm all come from the archives of Austrian Radio and were recorded in the 1940s and 1950s. I hope you enjoy. Many thanks to Malcolm! Both Ukraine and Russia can claim Bortkiewicz, so I have put these recordings in the downloads sections for both countries!

There is quite a lot of music by Veniamin Basner here for download that I have never seen before e.g.

Symphony No. 2 "Blockade"Symphony "Ekaterina Ismailova" after themes from ShostakovichSinfonietta for Flute and StringsComplete Ballet "The Three Musketeers"Suites of Film Music "Fate of Man" and "The White Guard"

"Malcolm Henbury-Ballan (MHBallan on here) has been kind enough to send me his DAT-format cassette on which this Lyrical Intermezzo was recorded, together with a number of other Bortkiewicz works (see below). I have transferred them to MP3 format and put in the Downloads section. According to Malcolm all come from the archives of Austrian Radio and were recorded in the 1940s and 1950s. I hope you enjoy. Many thanks to Malcolm! Both Ukraine and Russia can claim Bortkiewicz, so I have put these recordings in the downloads sections for both countries!"

Please note that this recording of Bortkiewicz's Piano Concerto No. 1 is heavily cut in the last movement, which runs only 4:33 vs. Hyperion's complete recording of 12:14. Apparently, performers used to take a lot of liberties with the score; there are different cuts marked by hand in the score on IMSLP and Marjorie Mitchell's recording has various omissions, too.

Just wondered if anyone had ever downloaded (I didn't find it) these works by the Karelian-Soviet composer G. Sinisalo: Sampo- Ballet, Karelia Pictures and Heroes of the Forest Symphony? were released on Melodiya but very rare. Thanks !!

Just wondered if anyone had ever downloaded (I didn't find it) these works by the Karelian-Soviet composer G. Sinisalo: Sampo- Ballet, Karelia Pictures and Heroes of the Forest Symphony? were released on Melodiya but very rare. Thanks !!

Is there any further information about the Shostakovich - Rozhdestvensky "symphonic fragment" that you uploaded? Is this fragment related to the putative sixteenth symphony, or is it something else altogether?

My contacts in Krasnoyarsk have come up trumps and sent me the recording of Cesar Cui's opera "The Prisoner of the Caucasus" which was performed there last year. It turns out the Russian Culture Ministry streamed it on a now obscure site ok.ru (kind of Russia's equivalent of myspace.com).

It's advertised as in two acts - acc to wikipedia the first edition was in two acts, later revised to three. The version here has been edited by someone called Vladimir Rylov. The conductor is Alexandr Kosinsky with the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Balet Theatre, other performers aren't named. It was recorded/performed in 2017.

I've posted it in the downloads section.

From Wikipedia:

Prisoner of the Caucasus (Кавказский пленник in Cyrillic, Kavkazskij plennik in transliteration) is an opera in three acts, composed by César Cui. The libretto is credited to Viktor Krylov, and is based on Alexander Pushkin's poem The Prisoner of the Caucasus.

The English title has been rendered also as Prisoner in the Caucasus and The Captive in the Caucasus.

The opera was preceded on the Russian stage by choreographer Charles Didelot's ballet of 1825.

CompositionThe opera was composed in three versions. The first, in 1857-1858, consisted of only two acts (which later became Acts I and III), but its staging was cancelled due to poor orchestration and insufficient length. Meanwhile the overture, orchestrated by Mily Balakirev, could be heard in concerts. Many years later, Cui decided to revise the two-act work: during 1881-1882 he added a new middle act (Act II) and another dance to Act III. This version constituted the score for the Russian premiere. In 1885, with the prospect of a Belgian production, he expanded the finale of Act II, creating the third version of the opera.

Performance historyPrisoner of the Caucasus was premiered on 4 February 1883 (Old Style), at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg under the conductorship of Eduard Nápravník. This opera became the most widely performed of the composer's full-length operas. Its production in Liège in 1886 — made possible in no small way by the enthusiastic support of Cui's friend, La Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau — marked the first time that an opera by "The Mighty Handful" was performed in the West. Nevertheless, with this exception, the opera seems to have never been staged outside of Imperial Russia and to have fallen out of the repertory in Russia after the composer's death.

Act I. After the men of the aoul pray to Allah, Kazenbek tells his melancholy daughter, Fatima, that a bridegroom has been chosen for her. She meditates on her sorrow. Suddenly a crowd of highlanders arrive, bringing along a Russian Prisoner that Fatima's bridegroom has captured as a wedding gift. Fatima begins to sympathize and eventually to fall in love with the Prisoner.

The Prisoner is left alone until night, when Fatima secretly brings him some food. After they part, a highlander runs in to tell Kazenbek of a group of Russians raiding a nearby aoul. The people come out to join in the combat against the despised enemy.

Act II. A group of women congratulates Fatima on her impending nuptials. After they leave, Fatima reveals her sadness to her friend Mar'iam. Hearing the approaching steps of Kazenbek and Fekherdin, the two of them hide behind a curtain while overhearing the conversation. The mullah has had a dream revealing Fatima's love for the Russian Prisoner. The two men exit.

Then the bridegroom, Abubeker, arrives. He expresses his love for Fatima. She greets him, and gifts from the groom are presented. Abubeker gives the Prisoner to Kazenbek, who hates the Russian. The people condemn the Prisoner to death, which he welcomes to end his suffering.

Act III. At the wedding feast, the people praise the bridegroom. The women, then the men, perform dances. After Mar'iam sings a Circassian song, all exit except for the newlyweds. Fatima is still sad, and Abubeker asks the reason. When they exit, the shackled Prisoner enters. Then Fatima appears; she urges the Prisoner to escape and frees him. He tells her that he loves not her, but another in his homeland. She is devastated as he runs away.

Mar'iam appears and tells Fatima that the entire village is preparing to take revenge on the Russian. The people arrive and are horrified at the news of Fatima's actions. As they set out to kill her, Fatima stabs herself to death. [Note: According to the score, this is the method of Fatima's demise in the opera, not drowning, which is implied in Pushkin's original poem.]